Little Love Affair (Southern Romance Series, #1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

and running a farm.”
    “And Solomon should be here,” Clara said, fighting to keep her tone even. “But everything’s different right now.”
    “You know Solomon approved of Cyrus,” Millicent said softly.
    Anger flared, and Clara felt her hands clench. It was just like her mother to bring up Solomon now, of all times.
    “He didn’t want me to be alone.” She bit the words off. “I told him no, too. I can take care of myself.”
    “I see.” Her mother knew better than to fight her on that. “Then what about the farm then? You think I don’t see candlelight coming from the library every night? Your father never taught you like he taught Solomon, and you know it was struggling even before he...” A moment of pain crossed her face. “Before he went away,” she finished softly.
    “It’s not for much longer,” Clara said, suddenly desperate to stop her mother’s slide to melancholy. “A year more, they said. Two at most. Then he’ll come home. Just a little longer.”
    Her mother’s eyes closed for a moment, and her chin trembled. “He’s not coming back, Clara.”
    Clara sat frozen. There was a roaring in her ears. “He is.”
    “Your brother,” Millicent said softly, her voice cracking, “is dead.”
    “He’s coming back,” Clara whispered.
    “He isn’t.” Tears trembling in her eyes, Millicent reached for Clara.
    “He might.” Clara snatched her hand away. “He might,” she whispered again, fiercely, and she left before her mother could say another word, running to the heavy barn door and letting it thud closed behind her. Once she was alone in the silence, she slumped against a support beam. She bit her lip to keep from crying.
    Cecelia was in the barn, and she must not cry where Cecelia might see. Never ever where Cecelia might see.
    “Clara?”
    Clara took a deep breath before answering. “Yes?”
    “Are you all right?”
    Clara looked around the beam. Cecelia was in the corner of the barn, sunlight glinting off her brown hair, kittens mewling softly nearby.
    “Of course.” Clara smiled. “I’m just tired.”
    “You and Mother were fighting,” Cecelia said in a very small voice.
    “Oh, Cee.” Clara went to kneel in the straw. “It’s the same old fight. Even Solomon wanted me to marry Cyrus. Do you remember?”
    “Why don’t you?” Her brown eyes were open, innocent—too unworldly for Clara to get angry.
    “Why don’t you ?” She reached out and tapped her sister on the nose, grinning.
    “Because he’s in love with you,” Cecelia said promptly.
    “Oh, that.” Clara felt her smile fade. She had no hope of explaining something she could not understand herself. “Cee...I don’t know. I don’t know why. I just can’t.”
    “All right.” But Cecelia looked dubious. She looked up when Clara stood. “Where are you going?”
    “To find someone to help with the harvest, remember? I might get you some candy.” Clara gave a last smile at Cecelia’s delighted shriek and made for the wagon hitch, smiling. Her mother’s disapproval was only words, she reminded herself. Nothing more. No one could force Clara to marriage—and for all Millicent’s advice, she would never try.
    Clara simply wished she could come up with a reason not to marry Cyrus Dupont. Solomon had approved of him—indeed, Cyrus had been his closest friend. Before his death, Clara’s father had looked fondly on Cyrus, and Millicent carried on the tradition, often setting an extra place at the table for him. He was kind to Cecelia. Intelligent. Handsome enough. He loved her, even Clara could see that.
    Love. Clara stopped, her skirts swirling around her. In the stillness of the morning, she understood at last. It was his love, of all things, that sent her running. Had Cyrus only wanted a partner in business endeavors, a woman to build a home with, Clara might have said yes. But when she looked into his eyes, she saw love, and she knew without any doubt, that she could never return it.
    She was